Lehigh Confident, Experienced the Second Time Around

They’d all been here before, staring at each other in a small room, knowing what needed to be done, and needed to be said. It came almost the same way, too, after an embarrassing loss that forced them into this tight conclave to reflect on who they are, what they want to be — and where they want to go.

Last season, after Lehigh’s players met to talk about a direction they wanted to go, they shook the country.

This time, the Mountain Hawks were pre-ordained winners. They began 2013 as a top-10 team. They were the favorites to win the Patriot League again. They were expected — this time — to make the NCAA Tournament. Not be a team that was supposed to surprise everyone.

This time, after a 6-4 loss to UMass on March 20, Lehigh sunk to 5-4. The promising season everyone expected, Lehigh’s players and coaching staff, the college lacrosse community, wasn’t happening. It was dissolving before their eyes and the seniors had to do something before it went poof.

“We had to find our confidence again,” said Lehigh attack David DiMaria, the Mountain Hawks leading scorer who’s been the catalyst of the offense (31 goals, 37 assists). “We weren’t playing together on the offensive end. We pressed too much; I know I put a lot of pressure on myself. The seniors met; then we had a team meeting. I always knew we had the talent and the guys on the field capable of getting the job done. Guys had to believe in themselves. We needed to call guys out and we needed more out of guys; we’ve done that. That’s what had to happen and that’s what has happened.”

It ignited a turnaround that’s made Lehigh a very dangerous team at the most important time of the season. The Mountain Hawks own the second-longest winning streak of any team in the NCAA Tournament, winners of seven-straight games — second only to their opening NCAA Tournament opponent, North Carolina, winners of nine-straight — and the No. 5 seed in the tournament (though ranked No. 1 in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll for the second-straight week).

Lehigh travels to North Carolina for a noon clash on Saturday in what should be one of the best game of the opening round. It was the Mountain Hawks beating North Carolina — at North Carolina last year — that launched Lehigh coach Kevin Cassese’s program into national prominence.

This year, it was a players-only meeting, some serious offensive tinkering (through a masterful job from assistant coach Tom Compitello) and the emergence of midfielders Brian Hess, Pat Corbett and Alex Drake that’s led Lehigh to a 12-4 finish. That placed them in a position to do what they failed to do last year — win the first NCAA Tournament game in Lehigh history.

It’s not “Little Lehigh” anymore. Cassese has placed this team into the national picture again, proving it can play with the big boys. There was some doubt in late March that the Mountain Hawks would go away — they haven’t.

“We thought we arrived last year and the plan was to remain,” said Cassese. “That’s what we’re doing now and we hope it continues moving forward. I think I learned this year that every team is different. I learned a lesson about being flexible as a coach and being able to adapt to your team. It’s something early on in my career that I struggled with. I felt I had a system and it was my system and everyone had to fit into that system.

“I realized as we went along, that’s not always the case. You always have to have a foundation and philosophy of what you believe in. But you have to be willing to adapt to the players that you have and the leaders that you have. I really learned that this year. We made a lot of changes along the way. Those changes were not only conceptually lacrosse wise, but how we structured practices, how we scouted other teams, and how we delivered that message to the guys. I’m glad we did that. If we hadn’t changed, I’m not so sure we’d be sitting here talking about playing North Carolina.”

Part of those changes meant briefly sitting senior captain Hess. Revamping a stagnant offense. Believing and trusting in players like Drake, who’s been the unsung hero of this team.

“Brian Hess and Pat Corbett have done unbelievable jobs, but the biggest guy that’s really stepped up for us has been Drake,” said Dante Fantoni, Lehigh’s other lethal gun (26 goals, 20 assists). “I mean the guy is what makes us go. He’s struggled with injuries, and since he’s been healthy, I’d take him against any short-stick in the country. He really embraced his role in this new offense. He does whatever it takes to get this team going.”

Hess had to rethink some things in the beginning of the season. He was the lone returning starter at midfield, after Lehigh lost twins Cameron and Roman Lao-Gosney. Things reached the nadir for Hess when he was demoted to second line during Lehigh’s Denver trip, when the Mountain Hawks lost to Air Force and Denver.

“It was an emotional conversation between me and coach Cassese, and I was devastated, but I think I took some things for granted that I was guaranteed a spot and once we got to Patriot League play, we found some chemistry with Alex and Pat,” Hess said. “Alex, I think, has changed everything — combined with the new offense. Our midfield took it as a challenge, questioning whether or not we can step up, can we step up? Going into North Carolina, it’s the same thing.”

Hess, Fantoni and DiMaria were on the field when the Mountain Hawks beat North Carolina last year. They were also on the field when they lost in the opening round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament to Maryland, after having the Terrapins down late before the eventual national runner-up came back to win 10-9 on a Joe Cummings goal with six seconds left.

Lehigh nearly reached the rarified air of beating a perennial national power Maryland, up 9-7 with 12:54 to play. When the Terrapins upped the intensity, Lehigh didn’t know how to react.
The flesh color ran from the faces of Hess, Fantoni, DiMaria and goalie Matt Poillon. They wore pale white expressions as they watched Maryland celebrate and advance.

“At the time, we gave them a good run and as the weeks went on, it started to hurt more and more watching Maryland advance,” DiMaria recalled. “Looking back, it was an experience I won’t forget. I don’t think any of the seniors on this team will forget. We’ll definitely take that hurt into this weekend against UNC. If we have UNC down, we’ll make sure we finish the job. Last year has helped our mindset from just being happy to be there to winning—winning the whole thing. If we play with focus, and play the way we can, we believe we can beat any team in the country.”

Poillon, tiny dynamite, is arguably the best goalie in the country right now. As a freshman, in his biggest game on the national stage against Maryland, he made an incredible 16 saves. Yet he blames himself for the loss.

Poillon, like his teammates, carries an enormous boulder on his shoulders.

“I do blame myself; a couple of saves here and there and we would have won,” said Poillon, whose fourth in the nation in goals-against average, surrendering a mere 7.37 goals a game and seventh in save-percentage (.601). “You get that bitter taste in your mouth that we got so close and it’s upsetting that we didn’t finish. Going into the Maryland game, we weren’t really too sure. There was doubt whether or not we’d win or lose. This year, we know we can hang with any team in the country.”

Added Hess, “That’s the biggest difference—experience, we have it now. The other thing, too, is that it’s North Carolina. We’re confident. We need to control the tempo of the game. UNC is an ACC team that likes to run an up-and-down, kind of helter-skelter, unsettled offense. We’re more a grind-it-out team. If we can control their unsettled, we feel confident.

“We still don’t think we’re getting the respect we deserve. We’re also doing this for Coach Cassese. Earlier in the week, he told us he loves Lehigh and loves being our coach. He bleeds brown and gold all day, but he told us when he signed his letter of intent to play for Duke, he made a vow to hate Carolina the rest of his life. So there are a few things there. Our mission last year was to win the Patriot League championship. Our mission this year is to win the national championship.”